World-wide there are more overweight and obese people (1 billion) than there are malnourished (0.8 billion). Today the challenge lies not just in meeting basic nutritional needs, but providing additional protective ingredients to help prevent the major chronic diseases associated with obesity. Biotechnology has become an important tool in recent years and scientists are now investigating advanced and novel strategies for the improvement of the functional aspects of food and food ingredients in an effort to manage the current and emerging health care challenges. Functional Foods and Biotechnology focuses the information from the recently published Food Biotechnology to illuminate the role of biochemical processing in the improvement of functional foods with targeted health benefits and increased nutrient value. Applying molecular, biochemical, cellular, and bioprocessing concepts, the text explores the design of functional food ingredients; the bio-mobilization of major nutrients such as starch, lipids, vitamins, and minerals; and the use of specific phenolic metabolites from common botanical species that have been found effective in disease prevention. Many chapters are concerned with the role of ingredients in oxidation-linked disease, which is the core basis for the major chronic diseases. Specialty topics include non-nutritive sweeteners, immune factors from eggs, phytochemicals as antimicrobials, and passive immune improvement with pro- and pre-biotics. The text provides conceptual insights to key emerging techniques for improving food production and processing, enhancing food safety and quality, and increasing nutritional values and functional aspects of food for better human health. Introducing key concepts in biotechnology and the improvement of functional foods and nutrient sources, Functional Foods and Biotechnology addresses specific strategies and potential solutions to poor nutrition, be it caloric excess or deficiency, and the related health challenges facing the world today.

Decades of development of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have yielded a significant array of associated techniques that make it possible to rapidly detect low numbers of all known pathogenic microorganisms without the traditional, more taxing methods of cultivation and phenotypic characterization. Written by one of the most prolific and respected researchers in food safety, Rapid Detection and Characterization of Foodborne Pathogens by Molecular Techniques describes the application of molecular techniques for the detection and discrimination of major infectious bacteria associated with foods. The book puts a particular focus on genes associated with pathogenicity used in PCR, including real-time PCR for specific detection of pathogenic bacteria and the inherent limitations of such methodology with certain pathogens. It also emphasizes methods for extracting microorganisms from complex food matrices and DNA purification techniques. The coverage begins with a highly comprehensive review of real time PCR, complete with theoretical and operational concepts. Each chapter deals with a specific organism and the techniques applied to that organism. The text includes references on the use of PCR primers and DNA probes, the DNA sequence of each being listed at the end of each chapter to create a complete compendium. This is not a "recipe book", but rather a resource with sufficiently detailed information that allows readers to fully comprehend the methodology described and the significance of the results. Copiously illustrated with figures, tables, charts, and graphs, this is a detailed presentation of the major, contemporary studies involving the molecular detection, quantification, and subspecies differentiation of each organism. With objective assessments of the molecular techniques, their advantages, and limitations, the book allows investigators to readily identify the precise molecular technique and application

Decades of development of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have yielded a significant array of associated techniques that make it possible to rapidly detect low numbers of all known pathogenic microorganisms without the traditional, more taxing methods of cultivation and phenotypic characterization. Written by one of the most prolific and respected researchers in food safety, Rapid Detection and Characterization of Foodborne Pathogens by Molecular Techniques describes the application of molecular techniques for the detection and discrimination of major infectious bacteria associated with foods. The book puts a particular focus on genes associated with pathogenicity used in PCR, including real-time PCR for specific detection of pathogenic bacteria and the inherent limitations of such methodology with certain pathogens. It also emphasizes methods for extracting microorganisms from complex food matrices and DNA purification techniques. The coverage begins with a highly comprehensive review of real time PCR, complete with theoretical and operational concepts. Each chapter deals with a specific organism and the techniques applied to that organism. The text includes references on the use of PCR primers and DNA probes, the DNA sequence of each being listed at the end of each chapter to create a complete compendium. This is not a "recipe book", but rather a resource with sufficiently detailed information that allows readers to fully comprehend the methodology described and the significance of the results. Copiously illustrated with figures, tables, charts, and graphs, this is a detailed presentation of the major, contemporary studies involving the molecular detection, quantification, and subspecies differentiation of each organism. With objective assessments of the molecular techniques, their advantages, and limitations, the book allows investigators to readily identify the precise molecular technique and application

Revised and updated to reflect the latest research and advances available, Food Biotechnology, Second Edition demonstrates the effect that biotechnology has on food production and processing. It is an authoritative and exhaustive compilation that discusses the bioconversion of raw food materials to processed products, the improvement of food quality, the importance of food safety, the design of ingredients for functional foods, and the biochemical advances made in traditional fermentation. It also provides an international perspective on the discipline as a whole. The content of the book is divided into three sections for easy reference. The first section provides an overview of the basic principles and explains microbial applications. The next section explains plant tissue culture techniques, genetic engineering of plants and animals, functional food ingredients and their health benefits, probiotics, antibody production for oral vaccines, and topics on enzyme technologies. The final section discusses food safety issues and the various bio-processing and fermentation biotechnologies used throughout the world. Food Biotechnology, Second Edition is an indispensable guide for anyone who needs to understand the latest information on food production and processing from a biotechnology perspective.